Wednesday, 30 April 2014

What I'm eagerly anticipating:

Title: RoguesAuthor: Lots of fantastic onesExpected Release Date: 17th June 2014From Goodreads:A thrilling collection of twenty-one original stories by an all-star list of contributors—including a new A Game of Thrones story by George R. R. Martin!

If you’re a fan of fiction that is more than just black and white, this latest story collection from #1 New York Times bestselling author George R. R. Martin and award-winning editor Gardner Dozois is filled with subtle shades of gray. Twenty-one all-original stories, by an all-star list of contributors, will delight and astonish you in equal measure with their cunning twists and dazzling reversals. And George R. R. Martin himself offers a brand-new A Game of Thrones tale chronicling one of the biggest rogues in the entire history of Ice and Fire.Follow along with the likes of Gillian Flynn, Joe Abercrombie, Neil Gaiman, Patrick Rothfuss, Scott Lynch, Cherie Priest, Garth Nix, and Connie Willis, as well as other masters of literary sleight-of-hand, in this rogues gallery of stories that will plunder your heart—and yet leave you all the richer for it.Featuring all-new stories byJoe Abercrombie • Daniel Abraham • David W. Ball • Paul Cornell • Bradley Denton • Phyllis Eisenstein • Gillian Flynn • Neil Gaiman • Matthew Hughes • Joe R. Lansdale • Scott Lynch • Garth Nix • Cherie Priest • Patrick Rothfuss • Steven Saylor • Michael Swanwick • Lisa Tuttle • Carrie Vaughn • Walter Jon Williams • Connie WillisAnd an Introduction by George R. R. Martin!

Tuesday, 29 April 2014

I love ABCs Once Upon A Time, I really enjoy how it brings to life fairytale and childhood story characters and its little twists to them. The funny thing is that I don't think that I have actually read any of the books that the show's stories are based on. I have seen most of the movie versions of those stories and while most of the characters in the show are actually based of Disney versions of these stories, I really would like to read the originals and some other re-tellings.

1) Snow White
Is originally a German tale and can be found in any Brothers Grimm collection or you can get it as a standalone like this awesome edition:

Some popular retellings:

Mirror, Mirror by Gregory Maguire

Fairest by Gail Carson Levine

A White So Red by K.D. Jones

The Fairest Beauty by Melanie Dickerson

2) Peter Pan
The original story is of course by J.M. Barrie

Some popular retellings:

Peter and the Starcatchers Series by Dave Barry & Ridley Pearson

Never After by Dan Eiconin

Tiger Lily by Jodi Lynn Anderson

Nevermor series by Lani Lenore

Gratuitous photo of Captain Hook a.k.a Colin O'Donoghue

3) Beauty and the BeastThe original is a not so short, short story by Madame Gabrielle-Suzanne
Barbot de Villeneuve and was abridged by Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont, and was reworked a few times before it became one of my favourite Disney films.

Some popular retellings:

Beastly by Alex Flinn

Heart's Blood by Juliet Marillier

Beauty by Robin McKinley

The Cold King by Amber Jaeger

4) Alice's Adventures in Wonderland

Even if you haven't read it, everyone knows that this one is by Lewis Carroll and what it's about

Some popular retellings:

The Looking Glass Wars series by Frank Beddor

Alice in Zombieland series by Gena Showalter

Splintered series by A.G. Howard

Queen of Heart series by Colleen Oakes

And cue gratuitous photo of the Mad Hatter a.k.a Sebastian Stan

5) The Wonderful Wizard of Oz

Another one, where even if you have not read it, you know what it's about and that it's written by L.Frank Baum

8) Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine
This is a retelling of Cinderella and I have heard that you should forget about the movie and just read the book.

Not retellings exactly, but have fairytale like settings:

9) Stardust by Neil Gaiman
Neil Gaiman is a master storyteller, magic wielder and an exquisite writer of words, and my favourite author. I adore every word he writes and I think everyone is better off having read him. If you are like me, you have seen the movie (more times than you can count) and you loved it. If you loved the movie, you will love the book, they are not exactly the same and the book is probably a little bit darker than the movie, but still great.

10) The Princess Bride by William Goldman
I don't think this one needs any introduction at all.

Monday, 28 April 2014

This had such rave reviews that I expected to love it but I didn't. Its not terrible and I did read it in two sittings but it missed something. I think that something was a real connection between the two main characters, apparently they were in love but to me it was simply lust.
If you are a fan of forbidden love stories then you very well may enjoy it.

I really enjoyed this book, it was about more than running for fitness but also about the mental well-being and the belief in yourself than comes from running. It almost made me put my running shoes on and head out the door, almost. If it hadn't been (and continues to be) wet and miserable here, then I more than likely would have, but I HATE the rain and only leave the house when it is raining if I absolutely have to. When the weather gets better, I WILL be starting a running program that I WILL stick to. And if I start to lose motivation I will pick up this book again.

WHAT I AM CURRENTLY READING:

I have only read one novella so far and I already love Celaena and I can't wait to get to the rest of the series.

I am about half way through this and my interest is starting to wane and if the story doesn't pick up soon it might end up being a DNF.

I am just over half way through this and I am loving it. I wish I picked it up in hardcopy, then I would probably be finished already.

WHAT I PLAN TO READ THISWEEK:

I didn't read any of the books that I planned to last week, but I do still hope to get to them: